Page 59 of Even Vampires Bleed
“I can unlock any lock. I’ll be out in a couple hours at worst,” I mouth him from where I’m still trying to reach him.
But when the soldiers finally catch up to me, Léandre jumps to help me. He’s too far, though.
“No,” I yell at him. “Don’t let the wings go to waste.”
He still can make it to the hole in the wall and shouldn’t try to wait for me.
“I’ll come back,” he says before I turn and hit the guy behind me with all my might. If I can buy him some time, I’m going to do it.
I don’t buy him a lot of time though, because then something hits me on the head, and I feel people passing me as they run.
I hope that he escapes.
That’s the last thought on my mind before I black out.
29
Léandre
I’m feeling awful.
I left Cassiopé there. I let her get caught while I ran for my life.
To be honest, I was more running for the safety of those wings Gabriel needs so much.
But now I feel like an ass because I saw everything like it was happening in slow motion.
And those assholes hit her on the head.
It might be awhile before she can actually get out if she’s passed out.
I get out from the tunnels in theSaint Michelquarter and cross over the riverLa Seinebefore rushing to the room we set this morning to operate on Gabriel.
Everyone is already here. The doctor with his gloves on and a sterilized blue outfit. Gabriel lies on his front on a mattress with a hole for his head.
I can see his nose poking from underneath, and from what I can hear, he’s peacefully sleeping.
Good.
I remove the wings from my shoulders and display them face up, the still bloody extremities poking up for easy access for the doctor.
“Do you need anything?” I ask him.
I don’t even know his name, but I’m not going to stay and chat with him to know it.
He’s got work to do, and I need to find Elhyor.
It doesn’t sit right with me that I left Cassiopé in Versailles.
As long as someone is taking care of my father’s wings, I can do all I want, and right now, all I want is to get that girl back from where she’s probably been taken prisoner.
“Do you have a blueprint of Versailles?” I ask Elhyor as I enter his office.
The question could have been for Angélique as well, but she’s surprisingly absent from her husband’s office.
I say surprisingly, because, for a couple that didn’t marry out of love, they seem pretty much attached to the hip.
I would never say that out loud to any of them—I don’t know which one of the two scares me the most—but they look cute together.
